Roof-door for cars.



E. POSSON. ROOF DOOR FOE CARS. APPLIGATION FILED MAY 10, 1907.

1,015,397. Patented Jan. 23, 1912.

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JcZwarZ B550)? E. POSSON.

ROOF DOOR FOR CARS.

APPLIOA 15,397. T10 FILED |1907 Patented J an. 23, 1912.

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M 1 fwd 66m E. POSSON. ROOF DOOR FOR CARS APPLICATION FILED MAY 10,1907.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD POSSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'IO NATIONAL DUMP CAR COM-PANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

ROOF-DOOR FOR CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 10, 1907. Serial No. 372,969.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD POSSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Roof- Doors for Cars, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a car with roof doorssoconstructed and rranged that the doors may be arranged n the form of ahopper, thus facilitating the operation of loading, and also to providea water-proof door.

In the drawingsFigure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a car roofembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross section throughthe structure shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse section throughthe car roof showing my improved doors, said section being taken on theline 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section on the line l of F 2. Fig. 5 is anend View of the upper part of the car, the part to the left beingsectioned on the line 5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a transverse section of theupper part of the car showing the position of the roof doors when usedto form a hopper.

In order to provide an unobstructed door opening in the center of thecar roof, the

longitudinal members 1 of the roof framing are spaced from the center ofthe car at the portions thereof occupied by the door opening, asillustrated in Fig. 3. The doors 2 are hinged at their outer edges, asillustrated. On the under side of the inner edges of the doors I secureangle irons 3 adapted to strengthen the door and to rest upon the angleirons or other projecting parts& which are secured to the transversemembers 6 of the roof framing. By these means the doors are firmlysupported at their ends and near the inner edge thereof, as clearlyillustrated in Figs. 2 and 8. The running board 7 may be constructed inthe usual manner upon the part of the car roof not occupied by thedoors. The part of the running board 7 over the doors, however, issecured to the doors and forms part thereof, half of the running boardbeing secured to each of the adjoining door-s By means of theconstruction described I provide a clear and .unobstructed openingextending across the center of the car roof, thus affording free accessto the interior of the car for the purpose of loading the same. Thedoors, furthermore, may be used, when secured in partially openposition, to form a hopper, thus facilitating the loading of the car.For this purpose the doors may be opened somewhat beyond a verticalposition so that they Will slope outward from the door opening, and maybe secured in this position by means of blocks or otherwise.

. A convenient means for supporting the door in position to form thehopper is shown in Fig. 6 and consists merely of a brace 10 placed inposition} to hold the door, at the desired inclination. A cleat 11 maybe secured to the car roof f )r the purpose of preventing the lower endof the brace from slipping, and the upper end of the brace may restagainst the outer face of the door 2 and the edge of the running-board7. I make no claim to the specific form of means for supporting the roofdoors in position to form a hopper, but do claim the broad idea ofutilizing roof doors for the purpose of forming'an upper hopper to beused in load- .ing a car.

In order to render the doors water-proof I cover them with galvanizediron or other sheet metal suitable for the purpose.

What I claim is:

In a car, a roof framing comprising transverse members spaced apart. thelength of each door opening, longitudinal members spaced from the centerof the car to leave each door opening unobstructed across thelongitudinal center of the car, means for supporting said doors ininclined position to form a hopper, strengthening members attached tosaid doors at their inner edges, and means upon the transverse membersfor supporting the ends of said strengthening members.

EDWARD POSSON.

Witnesses:

W. T. J ONES, NORMAN A. STREET.

